page_title: Interurban
section_title: Growth
hierarchical_section_title: Interurban / History / Growth
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: electricrailway371911newy (find matches) Title: Electric railway journal Year: 1908 (1900s) Authors: Subjects: Electric railroads Publisher: (New York) McGraw Hill Pub. Co Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: by the Rock Island Southern Railwayand the Chicago, Aurora &amp; De Kalb Railroad. The RockIsland Southern line consists of a 50.2-mile, 11,000-volt sub-stantially built freight and passenger road from Rock Islandto Monmouth, 111. A 19-mile section of this track is a -branchof the Chicago, Rock Island &amp; Pacific steam railroad system,which the interurban company has leased for a term of 25years. In constructing the new roadbed lately put into opera-tion 1,300,000 cu. yd. of earthwork was handled in 31 miles anda number of large bridges and trestles were built. One of thesteel bridges is 625 ft. long and 75 ft. high. The Chicago,Aurora &amp; De Kalb Railroad during the year electrified a30-mile gasoline-operated line between Aurora, De Kalb andCortland. The ceremonies attending the dedication of the McKinleyBridge at St. Louis probably attracted as widespread attentionfrom the public as any piece of electric railway constructionwork consummated during 1910. This bridge was formally Text Appearing After Image: January 7, 1911.) ELECTRIC RAILWAY JOURNAL 21 opened Nov. 10 in the presence of the Governors of Illinois andMissouri and many other people of commercial and politicalnote. The entrance to St. Louis of the Illinois Traction Sys-tem over its bridge and new line within that city has beenmade possible by constructing the most extensive terminalproject ever undertaken by an interurban railway, the generaland detail features of which have been described fully innumerous articles presented by this paper during the pastyear. The total cost of the project, which includes the Mc-Kinlev Bridge; 10 miles of double track, largely on privateright-of-way through congested territory; a 14,000-kw generat-ing station&#160;; the improvement of a 24-acre carload freight ter-minal and the construction of passenger and express stationswithin St. Louis, is approximately $7,000,000. Since the com-pletion of the bridge link between Illinois and Missouri thetraffic passing in and out of the St. Louis terminal haselectricrailway371911newy Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The interurban is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like light electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. They were prevalent in North America between 1900 and 1925 and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding suburban and rural communities. Large networks have also been built in countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, many of which survive to the present day. Interurban as a term encompassed the companies, their infrastructure, and the cars that ran on the rails.
  The interurban, especially in the United States, was a valuable cultural institution. Most roads and town streets were unpaved, and transportation was by horse-drawn carriages and carts. The interurban provided vital transportation links between the city and countryside. In 1915, 15,500 miles of interurban railways were operating in the United States. For a time, interurban railways were the fifth-largest industry in the United States. By 1930, most interurbans in North America were gone, with few surviving into the 1950s.
context_section_description: From 1900 to 1916, a large network of interurban lines was constructed in the United States, particularly in the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and California. In 1900, 2,107 miles (3,391 km) of interurban track existed, but by 1916, this had increased to 15,580 miles (25,070 km), a seven-fold expansion. During this expansion, in the regions where they operated, particularly in Ohio and Indiana,  "...they almost destroyed the local passenger service of the steam railroad." To show how exceptionally busy the interurbans radiating from Indianapolis were in 1926, the immense Indianapolis Traction Terminal (nine roof covered tracks and loading platforms) scheduled 500 trains in and out daily and moved 7 million passengers that year. At their peak the interurbans were the fifth-largest industry in the United States.
caption: 1911 map showing interurban services across the Midwest
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